The reality series locked down the network’s highest prime share in two years
MTV’s “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “The Challenge” dominated their respective daily release slots last week in a standout week for the network that secured its highest prime share across cable programming in two years.
During the week of Jan. 23 to Jan. 27, the MTV reality series topped cable programming for their respective premiere days in MTV’s younger-skewing 18-49 demo, according to Nielsen live plus same day data.
“The Challenge,” which premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m., won the day as the top performing cable show among adults 18-49 and 18-34. Last week’s telecast drew in 635,000 total viewers — up 22% from the 521,000 total viewers brought in by the season average thus far — and earned a season high ratings score of 0.68 in the 18-49 demo — up 28% from the season-to-date 0.53 average rating. The competition series also had the highest share of the season, with last week’s episode taking a share of 3.71, up 27% from the season-to-date 2.93 share.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” dominated its Friday night broadcast as the top cable show of the day among adults 18-49 and 18-34, drawing in a total viewership of 729,000 — up 11% from the season-to-date 658,000 total viewers — and a ratings score of 0.62, marking a 17% increase from its 0.53 18-49 demo season-to-date rating. The reality competition also scored a 17% uptick in share in the key demo, from last week’s 3.88 share compared to the season-to-date 3.32 share.
The “Jersey Shore” franchise also ushered in a Thursday win for the network with the premiere of “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” which became the highest-rated season premiere since Jan. 2022 and top cable premiere of the day among adults 18-49 and 18-34. The series’ season 6 premiere, which brought in 507,000 viewers — up 39% as compared to last season’s premiere total viewership of 365,000, and received a 0.55 rating, a 49% increase from last season’s premiere rating of 0.37. Hitting its best season premiere share since November 2020, “Jersey Shore Family Vacation” won a 3.31 share in the demo for last week’s premiere, marking a 32% uptick from prior seasons’ 2.51 average share.
Loree Seitz
Loree joined TheWrap as a reporter in 2022 after interning at the publication during the summer of 2021. Loree has covered entertainment, film and television for TheWrap and has reported on the media industry and the cable news beat. She has also written for MovieMaker Magazine, where she interned in 2020.